Man City ace Raheem Sterling opens up on Arsenal transfer rumours: I didn't think about it

Man City ace Raheem Sterling insists he had no interest in joining Arsenal

Sterling was linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium at the end of August as City tried to secure a deal for Alexis Sanchez.

City were always adamant that they wanted a cash-only deal for Sanchez – who ended up staying in north London after a £50m bid was rejected just before the August transfer deadline.

Sterling said that he never considered the possibility of leaving City, where he has two-and-a-half years to run on the contract he signed after joining from Liverpool for an initial £44m fee in July 2015.

And he says he wants to stay at the Etihad Stadium and continue his excellent form for manager Pep Guardiola.

He said: “I signed for five years here. I’ve got two-and-a-half years left, and I see myself here and playing my football here under a great manager with a great team.

“I didn’t need to speak with Pep because I had already spoken to him during the summer about pre-season. I didn’t have any negative thoughts or anything bad about it.

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“I didn’t need to worry about it, and I didn’t think about it, not for one minute”

Man City ace Raheem Sterling

“I just woke up one day with England and saw it, and I decided I wouldn’t believe a word of it until I heard something from the manager, then I would believe it.

“It wasn’t something I was worried about, because Pep is an honest guy, and he would have spoken to me about it before that.

“So I didn’t need to worry about it, and I didn’t think about it, not for one minute.”

Sterling has scored seven goals in all competitions already this season, and is well on course to beat his best-ever total of 11 in one campaign.

He will get the chance to add to that total against Napoli in the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

Kevin De Bruyne will be the focus of attention after his outstanding display in Saturday’s 7-2 win over Stoke.

But manager Guardiola insists that the Belgium international has to win major titles if he wants to be considered in the same bracket as Lionel Messi.

Guardiola said: “The best is just one [Messi]. If you want to be considered one of the best, you have to win titles and we are here to help him achieve that. The best is just one but he [De Bruyne] is one of the best.”

Sergio Aguero could make his comeback against Napoli, having recovered from the broken rib he suffered in a taxi crash in Amsterdam on September 28.

Aguero was an unused substitute against Stoke, but has made good progress in the past few days.

Guardiola said: “Day by day, he is much better. Yesterday he had an amazing training session. The day before, for the game against Stoke, he was good but not perfect. Yesterday was really good.”